KAMLOOPS – It's a statement victory for the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's soccer team who started their 2023 campaign with a 3-1 victory over the Mount Royal Cougars in Langley on Friday night.
 
Playing their 'home opener' far away from Kamloops due to the wildfires in the Interior, TRU had every excuse to get off to a slow start after a week of practice on an unusual field away from the comforts of home.
 
Instead, the 'Pack got off to a scintillating start. In just the eighth minute of play Caylah Lemon whipped a cross into the box that captain Ainsley Grether powered into the back of the net with a dynamite header to give TRU the early lead.
 
"I thought we came out flying," said WolfPack head coach Mark Pennington. "We were well organized and up for it, started out really positively and scored one early."
 
TRU kept the pressure on and doubled their lead in the 26th minute.
 
Newcomer Esi Lufo played a ball into Kamloops product Emily Clark who made no mistake in sneaking the ball past the diving MRU keeper.
 
It looked to be all smooth sailing for the 'Pack before MRU struck right at the stroke of halftime.

Sydney Danielewicz managed to score against the run of play and send the teams into the halftime break with the score 2-1.
 
"Credit to MRU they got a goal right before halftime and put us on our backfoot a little bit," said Pennington. "They made us have to work really hard for it and we did, we dug in and managed to expose them a little bit in the end."
 
Aneesa O'Brien made two saves in the second half inf the WolfPack net but a combination of steady defensive play and relentless pressure from the midfield limited MRU's chances in the half.
 
The WolfPack got their insurance marker in the 86th minute when substitute Bridget Baird scored the second goal of her Canada West career.
 
"I thought Bridget's first involvement in the game was at a 100 miles per hour and created a good chance for herself and I'm really happy to see her rewarded with a goal," said Pennington. "We know we have some different personnel with different tools that we can use at different times. It was always our plan to start a certain way and then add the pace of Bridget and Madeline Trozzo towards the middle of the game."
 
The win was a monumental one for TRU. Not only did they take down a MRU team ranked ahead of them in the CW Coaches Pre-season poll, but this also marks the first time the team has won their season-opener since joining the conference in 2014.
 
Next up for TRU is a game tomorrow at UBC's Ken Woods Field where they will take on the UVic Vikes at 4:00 p.m.